Châteauneuf-du-Pape with my boy!
Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Southern Rhône, France
Tasted Monday, April 15, 2024 - Wednesday, April 17, 2024 by Eric with 486 views
Introduction
I tagged along with my wife on a brief trip to France and Denmark, and my son (on transfer for a semester in Paris) was on Spring break. So we grabbed a quick TGV down to Avignon and had two glorious days of tasting in Châteauneuf-du-Pape!
It was so fun to see Sidney conversing so wonderfully in French throughout the trip--he really seems so happy in France!!!
Flight 1 - Dinner in Paris (1 Note)
A long walk led to dinner at Chez Monsieur and a little warmup CDP to get us in the mood for our early train ride the next morning.
Flight 2 - Lunch in Châteauneuf-du-Pape (2 Notes)
We met up with Laetitia and Julien Barrot of Domaine la Barroche for a lunch at Comptoir de la Mère Germaine. We opened the meal with their striking Pure Blanc and then a young and chewy Vieille Julienne off the list.
Flight 3 - Famille Isabel Ferrando (8 Notes)
Our first official tasting of the trip kicked off at Famille Isabel Ferrando.
Sadly Madame Ferrando was not able to join us, but Léa took good care of us. The wines were impressive on the whole, and it was interesting to compare the structure achieved with stem inclusion.
Flight 4 - Domaine la Barroche (6 Notes)
Laetitia whisked us from the winery off to one of their vineyards to join Julien who was busily on his tractor. We had a chance to walk several of the vineyards, and it was really fascinating to better internalize the impact of the soils on the wines.
It was also particularly striking to gaze out on Mont Ventoux in the distance with Cairanne, Beaumes de Venise, Gigondas and Vacqueryas all peeking out on a gloriously clear and windy day.
After an hour of tromping we came back to the winery and tasted from several large casks: 2022 Fiancee was pure and spicy. 2023 separate foudres of Syrah, Grenache and a Syrah/Mourvedre/Counoise co-ferment. The Syrah foudre was amazingly smoky, meaty, savory, lacking a bit of the acid you might see in the Northern Rhône but still quite compelling. Grenache was super (white) peppery and sharp. And the last blend was quite structured with great backbone and freshness.
Then we came to the bottled wines which went from strength to strength. Barroche is not represented in my cellar, and I really need to fix this. Laetitia and Julien are so passionate and creating such striking wines!
Flight 5 - Dinner in Avignon at Restaurant Sevin (1 Note)
A brilliant meal and a lovely wine list. Since we had driven by Rayas on our way out to some of the Barroche vineyards, it seemed fitting that we should try a young but glorious example off the list, just to show Sidney the most unique expression of Grenache on sandy soil. Haunting...
Flight 6 - Clos des Papes (6 Notes)
Vincent Avril was so kind to steal a couple of hours away from his bottling of the 2022. Clos des Papes is one of the largest of my own personal holdings of Châteauneuf-du-Pape. No luxury cuvees, no nonsense, just a white, a red and a table wine.
I really need to keep up my collecting here and dip more into the ones in my cellar. These really make me happy, and Vincent is such an outspoken and direct fellow.
Little tidbits: Vincent always decants (at cellar) temp his reds for 2 hours if not 3. He really prefers his whites with a minimum of 5 years of age. I really do need to find some of his whites--they are brilliant.
Flight 7 - Domaine de la Vieille Julienne (7 Notes)
Antoine Daumen took us through a powerful and fascinating set of wines. I was very excited by the strikingly fresh expansion to their lineup with the "Ceci est un flacon de vin de France".
It was fascinating to learn the history of the appellation lines which bisect their estate, half eligible for Châteauneuf-du-Pape and the other portion for Côtes du Rhône.
Flight 8 - Le Clos du Caillou (10 Notes)
Marilou Vacheron very cheerily led us through an energetic lineup of Clos du Caillou wines from both inside and outside the Clos. As with Domaine de la Vieille Julienne, the history of the appellation was fascinating with the wines inside the walled (Clos) property not eligible to be Châteauneuf-du-Pape.
This was one of the first Southern Rhône producers I chased almost 25 years ago based on Robert Parker's love of them. Tasting them again made me realize how much I enjoy them, lovely precision, bright fruit.
Closing
After our second straight day of tasting, Sidney and I had a long, ambling, gorgeous walk throughout Avignon with stunning views from on top of the walls. Sid is right at the age now I was when I was chasing the start of my career at Microsoft, so it was very fun to have him ply me with questions about the ups and downs of my early career. Finally we found ourselves hungry for dinner and settled upon Restaurant Café Saint Jean à Avignon. A lovely cafe with slightly modernized twists upon some classics. And then we were off to sleep in time to catch an early train back to Paris.
This was my third trip to Châteauneuf-du-Pape, and together with the vineyard tours and tasting a broad set of style of wines, this one really sunk in a bit more. The winemaking styles and vineyard sites were quite varied among the estates we visited, and you could really see it in the diversity of the wines.
All were especially enjoyable. I really need to track down Barroche wines, open and buy more Clos des Papes and get back into the Clos du Caillou still in my cellar.
2014 Domaine de Marcoux Châteauneuf-du-Pape 90 Points
France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape
(4/15/2024)
Cool vintage. Grenache forward. White pepper. Pine. Cherry. Just glorious.
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